I would just like to say

kevstar said:

Busy wee day, good fun with all the lads the banter was superb. Got a mates motor to look at in the morning as he's
had a wee accident so early to bed. Nite all

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You can get speshul pants for that you know.

Aaaand Good morning all. Not gerrin up just yet.

Hippo said:

Wots that in sovs?

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Almost two breakfasts

Eye wud juss lyk ter say, av eetid me brekfust!!

Turktowner said:

Izzat our Kev?

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No. He's wukkin.

Stanleysteamer said:

My God I HATE plumbering!!!
You think, "I don't want any leaks as this configuration of bits and pieces to go in that there 'ole is so tight and so hard to do up, I'll test all the "wet" bits first before final assembly."

So you do just that. To all the joints of various types, put your special plumber's grease on the O rings etc ensure it is all on, take a deep breath, open the isolating valves and ........... see tiny drips just below one.
So you re-isolate, tighten the compression fitting on the lower and upper part of the isolating valve, tighten up the rings on the "push fit" connection elbow right below it, (I didn't fit this remember!), and try it again.
Yippee! dry!!!!!

So you proceed to the monumentally flipping awkward placement of the rubber gasket the horseshoe sort of shaped flat metal bit through which the threaded rod goes up into the base of the tap, With its blasted 7/16" nut on, in a place where no normal spanner will fit cos of the proximity of the two copper pipes that come down right next to it, (not flexis obviously, thanks chum).
Struggle like flip to do it up tight.
Then try to position the plug opening and closing rod therough its lickle 'ole.
Won't go, tap too far back.
So you drag the whole business forward a tad, eventually get the whole shooting match working, and open the isolators again.
Ever so slowly a drip appears, but of course in a different place, when it has never dripped before. The very top of one of the copper pipes which are supposedly only supposed to go "hand tight" into the base of the tap.
Of course you cannot get any sort of a grip or wrench onto the solid fitting part right at the top as it is buried inside the hole in the top of the basin. And of course it is round not hex.
So you loosen the compression fitting in the top of the isolator, and do the best you can with water pump pliers on the thickest part of the copper pipe just above the isolator, to tighten it up inside the tap. It moves a hairsbreadth.
Then you retighten the compression fitting, open the isolator and ........... it is still weeping.
So you do this twice more, each time the weep improves fractionally.
But is still there.

By now my back and neck are aching and I cannot face taking the whole flipping thing apart to enable me to lift the tap up above the sink just enough to get a mole grip on the top fitting.

So I turn the isolator off again and resign myself, with choice language, to yet another attempt yet another day.

How do plumberists ever make any money at this game?

Rant over.

(Give me electrics any time. And I dislike them strongly! And I am too tight to buy anything else to make the job easier, like a flexi or even two.)

Have an enjoyable Friday Evening folks.

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The joys of plumbing
often as you tighten up the compression nut at the top of the ballofix it turns the pipe ie undoing it out of the tap it can be a right pain, flexies and a tap boxspanner set make it very easy

Mornin
What a beautiful day ! warmish and sun shining
Must get cracking lots to do, might put the tree up tonight
Stay safe all

BikerB said:

Gland pliers don't get enough grip on compression fittings, plus you need to wrap a bit of ptfe around the olive first.
I just finished putting in a whole CH system and replumbing to get an unvented tank in place of the vented water tank. I had one leak, where I put a mounting screw through a pipe for a rad.
I don't use pushfits though, always solder ring or compression depending on whether it is new or old pipe I am connecting toView attachment 304995

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That all looks fabulous, It must be lovely to be able to do plumbering in such a space, rather than having to contort yourself underneath baths or sinks! Very neat clean work!
I didn't make myself clear about the use of gland pliers, I was having to use them on a bare pipe, not a compression nut for which I would always use a spanner! I do have a proper pipe gripping self-tightening spanner, but, of course it is in the other country!
Where a mixer tap sits inside a hole in a basin, there is, all crammed together, the tops of the two pipes, (no nuts on them), the rod that works the plug remotely, and the threaded bar that clamps the plate under the top of the sink to keep it all in place. (I'm putting this in for those who may not know, I'm sure you do!)
If fitting it yourself, you make all this up, away from the sink, you can tighten the pipes in nice and tight as it is all new, and leave putting the compression fittings on until later, once it is all clamped up.
But having to take the tap off in order to take it with me when hunting for the tap cartridge, the two pipes could no longer come through the hole as the comprssion fittings were then stuck on the pipes behind the olives! and obviously putting it all back together there is the same problem. So tightening the two pipes, well, doing one is OK but the second..... you simply find it very hard to grip it with anything. I obviously have not tightened them up well enough and I think this is because I didn't put on my car mechanics head first. I also didn't use plumbers grease as I had none!

SO I will be taking it all apart, cleaning the threads in the tap and on the tops of the two pipes with taps and dies if necessary JUST as if I was cleaning up nuts and bolts on a car, then grease it all up and hopefully tighten it all up enough.
So I had to battle to get at least one of them off before removing the tap.

I have plumbed the entire house in France apart from doing other repairs in the past. And I have modified stuff a couple of times which includes moving radiators, once having to put a long pipe under floor boards, in sections, so I had to solder while the pipe was below the level of the board, Not having a very good gas blow lamp that works properly pointing downwards I nearly set fire to the place, and, of course, one of the joints leaked!
And yes I too once put a nail through a pipe!
So I have a few reels of PTFE tape as well as a couple of pots of Plumbers Mait.

TBH I have been a bit spoilt in France as the water there is soft as heck, unlike where we are over here. And it all being new and done by me, I could use exactly what I wanted, so flexis rule!

I used to work, donkey's years ago, in pneumatics, where everything, usually, is in compression fittings or push fit, so I prefer both of those, although soldered is more compact and neater.

Wimblowdriver said:

Bet you got green shield stamps back in the day

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and pink stamps, can you remember them? But it wasn't me, it was my parents, but I remember being made to stick them into the books for them!

brianp38dse said:

The joys of plumbing
often as you tighten up the compression nut at the top of the ballofix it turns the pipe ie undoing it out of the tap it can be a right pain, flexies and a tap boxspanner set make it very easy

Rothenberger Monoblock Tap Spanner Set 3 Pieces - Screwfix

Order online at Screwfix.com. Set of 3 double-ended monoblock tap spanners that fit most monoblock securing bolts and a tommy bar. FREE next day delivery available, free collection in 1 minute.

www.screwfix.com

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Cheers mate, never thought of that but it does make sense!!!

I have seen the box spanner set and been tempted. The thing is at my age, I keep thinking I'm coming tio the end of needing tools for jobs I doubt I'll need to do, as I am just finishing the last ever refurb of the kitchen/utility over here and I am never going to change anything in Frogland. Although you are probably aware I have had to change a toilet over there due to a cracked cistern which came totally out of nowhere!

One last go then it'll be flexis and, the heck with it, a box spanner set!!
Thanks for making me feel a bit less stupid.

Morning All.
Sore head and queasy tummy this morning. Far too much beer last night.
Took my boy out for beers to cheer him up. A good time was had by all.
Have a great day!

DanClarke said:

Morning All.
Sore head and queasy tummy this morning. Far too much beer last night.
Took my boy out for beers to cheer him up. A good time was had by all.
Have a great day!

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Glad to hear you had fun!!!

Do you recon this man has cut a deal with the scrapmen ?
Naaaa surely not

Turktowner said:

Izzat our Kev?

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Looks quite a satisflying job

Back in for a bit of lunch (last nights chinky) now havin a coffee then am away oot to do somit with the garage.
Mates motor is a wee bit of a mess tis a Jagwar snapped off the lower hub when went into a ditch then hit a stone
dyke, she was ok tho. Managed to strip all the busted suspension off & got full hub/lower arms/ ball joints ect off
a breaker. One issue is the lower shock bolt tis a big torque but its solid so need to get some heat on it as if it rounds
that will be a nightmare as its captive. Needs a wing, wheel & I'll see if I can do somit with the bumper as its been
ripped off. Not today..........Im home alone

Stanleysteamer said:

That all looks fabulous, It must be lovely to be able to do plumbering in such a space, rather than having to contort yourself underneath baths or sinks! Very neat clean work!

Thats just the visible bit, the rest was under the floor

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Thats just the visible bit, the rest was under the floor..............

Stanleysteamer said:

Where a mixer tap sits inside a hole in a basin, there is, all crammed together, the tops of the two pipes, (no nuts on them),

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Flexi's are available which have nuts on the top. A JG Speedfit type for mono blocks have one long and one short nut (bought as a pair) and are handy for spanner access. I have a mono block tap which came with copper tails, with nuts at the tap end. Still got them, as I fitted up with JG Speedfit flexi's. Scroofix is your friend, eight pages of choice in Flexi's.

When I was re-fitting dottir's bath tap earlier this week I used a long box spanner on the tap bottom nuts, driven by a large socket at the bottom end, driven by a stubby ratchet which I had to buy last summer to get my tratter turbo back on. Worked well with minimal space between the bath and the wall.

All the taps I have ever fitted either have flexis you can fit before dropping the tap in or tails that you can also fit beforehand that take a compression fitting.